Narratives

We are interviewing members of the robotics community to develop an understanding of how robotics as a field has developed, the kinds of questions and methods that have been used in robotics research, and the societal applications and implications of the field. Along with allowing us to develop a view of robotics from the perspective of its practitioners, oral history interviews also help us identify key individuals, relevant institutions, ideas, events, decisions, and practices that have played a significant part in robotics and are not available in written records.

Below is a set of thumbnails for some of the interviews we have collected so far. These video-taped interviews will be edited by the team and presented in an interactive and interrelated manner so that scholars, students, and all those who are interested in robotics can search through and experience them in their own way.

Ruzena Bajcsy is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is also Director Emerita of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society. Her current research centers on artificial intelligence; biosystems and computational biology; control, intelligent systems, and robotics; graphics and human-computer interaction, computer vision; and security. She has been named the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for her contributions in the field of robotics and automation.

Prof. Shigeo Hirose, Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and IEEE Fellow, is renowned for his pioneering work on the design and control of robotic systems. He has created innovative robotic systems that can walk, crawl, swim, skate and slither, bio-inspired snake robots, a "ninja-robot" that can climb buildings, mine detection and removal robots, and planetary exploration robots, along with many other practical robotic applications. In this clip, Prof. Hirose talks about his early inspirations before starting a career in robotics.

Gerd Hirzinger, director of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center in Wessling, Germany, is best known for his work in advancing robotic space exploration. He developed ROTEX, the first remotely controlled space robot that flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1993. For many years he has been chairman of the German council on robot control and administrative committee member of the IEEE Society on Robotics and Automation. He has published more than 600 papers in robotics, mainly on robot sensing, sensory feedback, mechatronics, man-machine interfaces, telerobotics and space robotics.

Victor Scheinman is a pioneer in the field of robotics. He is inventor of the Stanform Arm, an all-electric, 6-axis articulated robot that allowed for much more sophisticated control for assembly and automation. In 1973 Scheinman started Vicarm Inc. to manufacture his robot arms, and in 1977 he sold this design to Unimation, who further developed it. Along with support from General Motors, this became the Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly (PUMA), which has become a staple in industrial settings. Today Scheinman continues to consult and is a visiting professor at Stanford University in the department of mechanical engineering.

Chuck Thorpe is a Principal Research Scientist and runs the Navlab group in the Robotics Institute of CMU. His interests are in computer vision, planning, and architectures for outdoor robot vehicles. Since 1984, the Navlab group has built a series of 10 robot cars, HMMWVs, minivans, and full-sized passenger busses. The research is funded by DARPA for building off-road scout vehicles, and by the Department of Transportation for traffic safety and automated highways.